Saturday
The Tourers gather at the lodge to make breakfast and pack up our bags and put the food and "slipper peds in the chulli buns" (translation -freezer blocks in the eskys). The weather was cool and indecisive with threatening clouds, gusts of wind then patches of sunny warmth without a breath of wind
View from the balcony as we had breakfast - a bit of boat porn for Jane
Kees always seems to get someone to help him with Julies bike, at least Jan didn't get conned into pumping the tyre up!
Our bags are packed up ready for collection by the water taxi; they and our bikes get a quick inspection by the local ladies who deem them thoroughly boring after finding them disappointingly bug free
Todays ride profile is up, up ,up, up and down, down,down,down.
Time to climb up onto the ridge again
Still climbing
The climbs are rewarded with spectacular views
Always a happy bunch when we regroup at the top of a climb
The Queen Charlotte track is open to mountain bikes from 1st of March through to the 30th of November, we met numerous hiking groups and the track is wide enough for riders and walkers in single file to pass each other with ease.
Heading up to Eaterll's Lookout, from the top we could see both Pelorus and Queen Charlotte Sounds
Jane getting all YMCA
Kees getting a little off track
Morning tea stop, we shared the shelter with a large group of school students (note the expert photo bomber in top left hand corner)
Some more of the fab fungi
This is where we had to turn off the track to head down to Portage, the narrowest part of the peninsula and we could see both Pelorus and Queen Charlotte Sounds again. The photo doesn't show it well but the rain and wind had really set in and this was at the end of a very long down hill so it was very cold, here I'm trying to stay out of the wind and rain in the shadow of the wall
Six of the group stayed at the TreeTops Backpackers and 4 of the group stayed at the Portage Resort
Stuffing shoes with newspaper to help them dry over night, Phil selflessly stuffs shoes only to find that Alice had used the last of it on Madam Julies shoes and there is none for his shoes
It had been a big day
Andrew and I head out for a walk in a lull in the rain only to have it bucket down and saturate us again
The afternoon is spent in the main section of the backpackers with Alice, Phil, Jane and Andrew engaged in a tense game of scrabble. The weather clears and we meet at the resort for afternoon tea
Dinner at the Portage Resort where John meets a member of the cast of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Richard gets the Tiki for peeling the stickers of Alices apples, Phil the crown, something to do with shoes and newspaper?
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